Times of Trial

Today I am sitting in a waiting room, waiting for my husband to get out of surgery. Many thoughts race through my mind. First, I am reminded that it is God alone who gives life. Every moment is in His hands, but at times such as this we are forced to pause and reflect on this fact. “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Mt 6:27 I cannot worry about whether the doctor is well-rested, whether there will be permanent nerve damage, whether this procedure will provide the much needed relief Dale seeks or whether insurance will pay for this. Worry will get me nowhere, but it might give me an ulcer. The one thing I can do that makes a difference is to pray. I can lay all of my burdens down at the feet of Jesus and trust that He will take care of them.

We have already seen many people in the body of Christ be tangible hands and feet to us this past week. God IS taking care of us. He sent a wonderful girl to watch our children (at 4:15a.m. mind you!) He put it on the hearts of friends from Dale’s Bible study to bring us supper. He has called upon the believers to pray for us (some even fasted, some prayed for over an hour at a time). We have the best set of Godly friends! Thank you to all of you who have given of your time, talent and/or money to share the love of God with us.

The second thing that became abundantly clear to me this week is how quickly life can change. Dale went from being a very self-sufficient man to one who needed help with the smallest of tasks. One wrong slip of the knife and he could be paralyzed for the rest of his earthly days. If insurance denies our claim, we will be in financial trouble. How easy it is to just sail through life thinking you don’t really need God. The truth is that we need to be in daily abandonment to the Lord. He wants us to trust Him with every moment, not just the ones of crisis.

So, today I am on my knees. I am praying for my husband, his health and our finances. I will also be praying for my children, their teachers, and friends because I can trust God with the mundane as well as the highly emotional.